South Wales Winter Major
Open SwissStandard
36 players participated in this 5-round tournament, held from 23 Jan 2026 to 25 Jan 2026 in BRidgend, Wales. 2 federations represented. Top 10 Elo average was 1769, and top seed was Gareth Harper (🇬🇧 WLS, 1846).
Andrew R Smith (🇬🇧 WLS, 1800) won with 4.5/5, ahead of Ian Hayes (4.0) and Timur Ramzan (3.5). Smith took the lead from round 4.
The biggest upset came in round 4: Micah Matheson (1359) beat Malcolm Probert (1669), a +310-point gap.
Location
🇬🇧BRidgend, Wales
Dates
23 Jan 2026 → 25 Jan 2026
Time control
Standard: 90 minutes with 30 second increment from move 1
System
Swiss · 5 rounds
Federations · 2 represented
🇬🇧Wales×33
🇲🇾Malaysia×1
Top 3
- 🥇
- 🥈
- 🥉
How it unfolded
Top 6 · 5 roundsAndrew R Smith led from R4; +0.5-point edge over the runner-up.
Co-leaders
11
4
1
1
1
R4 · LEADER CHANGE25 Jan
Andrew R Smith takes the sole lead (3.5/4).
R3–R5 · WIN STREAK
Andrew R Smith won 3 in a row (R3–R5).
R3 · FORMER LEADER FALL
Mikhail Saparovich held the sole lead at R3 but finished #15.
Key matchups · top 4
Head-to-head between the four finishers| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Andrew R Smith | * | — | — | — |
| 2Ian Hayes | — | * | ½ | — |
| 3Timur Ramzan | — | ½ | * | — |
| 4Joseph Browse | — | — | — | * |
Grille américaine
| # | Player | Elo | Fed | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts | Bu C1 | Bu | SB | Perf | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Smith, Andrew R | 1800 | WLS | +19B | =13N | +14B | +8B | +6N | 4.5 | 11.0 | 13.0 | 11.75 | 2024 | +42.4 |
| 2 | Hayes, Ian | 1751 | WLS | +29N | +21B | =3N | =6B | +8N | 4.0 | 11.5 | 13.0 | 9.75 | 1839 | +17.2 |
| 3 | Ramzan, Timur | 1658 | WLS | +33B | +17N | =2B | −4N | +16B | 3.5 | 12.5 | 13.5 | 8.00 | 1828 | +46.8 |
| 4 | Thomas, Kevin | 1737 | WLS | F | +15B | =7N | +3B | +22N | 3.5 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 9.50 | 1870 | +18.0 |
| 5 | Browse, Joseph | 1792 | WLS | =7N | +25B | −6N | +34B | +15N | 3.5 | 10.5 | 11.5 | 7.00 | 1756 | -3.8 |
| 6 | Bull, Jack | 1690 | WLS | +32B | =14N | +5B | =2N | −1B | 3.0 | 14.5 | 15.5 | 7.75 | 1777 | +24.4 |
| 7 | Murthy, Arush | 1613 | WLS | =5B | +9N | =4B | +23N | −10B | 3.0 | 13.0 | 15.0 | 8.50 | 1807 | +53.2 |
| 8 | Saparovich, Mikhail | 1681 | WLS | +31B | +20N | +23B | −1N | −2B | 3.0 | 12.5 | 13.5 | 5.00 | 1673 | -0.8 |
| 9 | Hurn, Robert AJ | 1689 | WLS | =15N | −7B | =25N | +28B | +21N | 3.0 | 9.5 | 11.5 | 6.25 | 1462 | -18.4 |
| 10 | Heatman, Jordan | 1784 | WLS | =16B | +30N | =13B | F | +7N | 3.0 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 7.00 | 1806 | +4.4 |
| 11 | Jones, Gavin | 1766 | WLS | F | =16N | +20B | =13N | +14B | 3.0 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 7.00 | 1776 | +1.2 |
| 12 | George, Naveen Daniel | 1624 | MAS | −17B | +31N | −22B | +20N | +19B | 3.0 | 8.5 | 9.5 | 5.00 | 1770 | +11.2 |
| 13 | Williams, Stephen | 1655 | WLS | +35N | =1B | =10N | =11B | −17N | 2.5 | 13.0 | 13.0 | 5.25 | 1712 | +5.2 |
| 14 | Wilkins, Zack | 1648 | WLS | +22N | =6B | −1N | +27B | −11N | 2.5 | 12.5 | 14.5 | 5.50 | 1654 | +0.2 |
| 15 | Potier, Julien | 1521 | WLS | =9B | −4N | +32B | +26N | −5B | 2.5 | 12.0 | 13.0 | 4.50 | 1691 | +42.8 |
| 16 | Richards, Benjamin James | 1650 | WLS | =10N | =11B | +36N | =18B | −3N | 2.5 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 4.25 | 1663 | +1.6 |
| 17 | Harper, Gareth | 1846 | WLS | +12N | −3B | =34N | F | +13B | 2.5 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 6.00 | 1726 | -23.6 |
| 18 | Penny, Liam | 1793 | WLS | F | =24N | =19B | =16N | +23B | 2.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 5.25 | 1748 | -10.0 |
| 19 | Cooke, Mark | 1619 | WLS | −1N | +35B | =18N | =25B | −12N | 2.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 2.25 | 1518 | -10.2 |
| 20 | Wiltshire, Robert | 1550 | WLS | +27N | −8B | −11N | −12B | +31N | 2.0 | 11.0 | 12.0 | 3.00 | 1578 | 0.0 |
| 21 | Wallace, Robert | 1545 | WLS | +26B | −2N | −24B | +31N | −9B | 2.0 | 11.0 | 12.0 | 3.00 | 1585 | 0.0 |
| 22 | Matheson, Micah | 1359 | WLS | −14B | F | +12N | +24N | −4B | 2.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 5.00 | 1670 | 0.0 |
| 23 | Peters, Chris | 1672 | WLS | +28N | +36B | −8N | −7B | −18N | 2.0 | 10.5 | 10.5 | 2.00 | 895 | -28.2 |
| 24 | Probert, Malcolm | 1669 | WLS | F | =18B | +21N | −22B | =27N | 2.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 4.25 | 1752 | +4.6 |
| 25 | Bartlett-Davis, Otto | 1626 | WLS | F | −5N | =9B | =19N | +36B | 2.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 2.50 | 1575 | -8.0 |
| 26 | Phillips, Thomas | 1707 | WLS | −21N | +28B | =29N | −15B | =34N | 2.0 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 3.25 | 1430 | -44.0 |
| 27 | Scarpignato, Samuele | 1710 | WLS | −20B | =32N | +30B | −14N | =24B | 2.0 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 3.00 | 1596 | -24.4 |
| 28 | Edwards, Jonathan Simon | 1424 | WLS | −23B | −26N | +33B | −9N | +32B | 2.0 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 2.00 | 1531 | 0.0 |
| 29 | Sarwar, Adam | 1555 | WLS | −2B | +33N | =26B | F | F | 1.5 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 2.00 | 1624 | +10.4 |
| 30 | Stannard, Mike | 1533 | WLS | F | −10B | −27N | =32N | +33B | 1.5 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 1.50 | 1523 | -4.8 |
| 31 | Zhuravlev, Andrei | 1470 | WLS | −8N | −12B | +35N | −21B | −20B | 1.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 0.00 | 853 | -20.8 |
| 32 | Belochkin, David | 1532 | WLS | −6N | =27B | −15N | =30B | −28N | 1.0 | 9.5 | 11.0 | 1.75 | 1421 | -22.8 |
| 33 | Hill, Glyn | 1413 | WLS | −3N | −29B | −28N | +35B | −30N | 1.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 0.00 | 782 | -17.0 |
| 34 | Brain, Peter | 1587 | WLS | F | F | =17B | −5N | =26B | 1.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 2.25 | 1657 | +9.6 |
| 35 | FIDE 343475558 | 1397 | — | −13B | −19N | −31B | −33N | F | 0.0 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 0.00 | 739 | 0.0 |
| 36 | FIDE 1810448 | 1310 | — | F | −23N | −16B | F | −25N | 0.0 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 0.00 | 849 | 0.0 |
Key insights
Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.
Top rating gainers
- 1Murthy, ArushWLS+53.23.0 pts · #4
- 2Ramzan, TimurWLS+46.83.5 pts · #2
- 3Potier, JulienWLS+42.82.5 pts · #8
Top rating losers
- 1Phillips, ThomasWLS-44.02.0 pts · #25
- 2Peters, ChrisWLS-28.22.0 pts · #36
- 3Scarpignato, SamueleWLS-24.42.0 pts · #16
Biggest upsets
- R4+310 Elo gap
- R3+265 Elo gap
- R2+188 Elo gap